The need to feed a growing global population and respond to increased demand for fish puts pressure on natural resources and challenges the sustainability of marine and inland fisheries and of aquaculture development. There is growing evidence of increases in resource conflicts (e.g. arising from competing demands for water resources in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) and ecological impacts (e.g. fishing down the trophic structure) associated with open access in overexploited marine capture fisheries. Common to other sectors, fish and its habitats are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and these pressures and conflicts are likely to grow through time.
Despite the importance of fish, to date, there has been limited attention given to the sector’s role in contributing to food security and nutrition strategies at the national level. Much of the existing literature has focused on the biological sustainability and economic efficiency of fisheries, neglecting issues linked to their contribution to reducing hunger and malnutrition and to supporting livelihoods. Yet increased consumption of fish, and its addition to the diets of low-income populations (including pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and young children), offers an important means of improving food security and nutrition.